Sheryl Battles

Mrs. Battles is a seasoned professional that communicates the company’s strategies and developments to a variety of stakeholders, including investors, and provides strategic communications counsel to the COO, the CFO and other senior executives. She also leads the company’s global diversity and inclusion strategy, financial communications, corporate thought leadership, and crisis communications. Pitney Bowes has recognized her exceptional contributions with several awards, including the company’s highest employee honor – the Walter H. Wheeler, Jr. Award. She is a three-time winner of the Pitney Bowes One Standard Excellence Award for outstanding team accomplishments.

Mrs. Battles is a National Achievement Scholar that graduated from Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA with a degree in Human Biology.

She has received numerous professional and community honors including: 2017 Most Powerful & Influential Woman Award Tri-State Diversity Council; Diversity Global Magazine’s 2017 Influential Woman in Global Diversity; 2017 Commitment to Community Service Award from the Urban League of Southern CT; Savoy Magazine’s 2016 Top Influential Women in Corporate America (& 2012); 2016 Brava Award from the Greenwich YWCA; Women of Power Award from the Urban League of Southern Connecticut; “Donald H. McGannon Award” from the National Urban League; the “Community Service Award” from the Yerwood Center; the “African American Cultural Series Community Service Award” from the Stamford Center for the Arts; and, an ACE award for speech writing from the new York chapter of the IABC.

Media coverage about Mrs. Battles includes: MyPRSA (“Sheryl Battles of Pitney Bowes on Diversity and Leadership”); PR Week (“Mothers of Invention”); The Harvard Business Review (“Leadership in Your Midst: Tapping the Hidden Strengths of Minority Executives”); Time Magazine (“Pathways to Power” – photo caption in which she was noted for mentoring women who were earlier in their career); and Ebony Magazine “100 Most Promising Black Women in Corporate America.”

Mrs. Battles is a popular speaker for a variety of professional and community events, a sampling of which include: Chair and Speaker Urban League of Southern CT Women’s Empowerment Summit; moderator “The Hidden Power of Inclusion” Arthur W. Page Society Annual Conference; featured speaker CT Diversity Council Best Practices; Keynote “When Women Lead Conference” for the Connecticut Business & Industry Association; panelist Connecticut Women in Leadership Symposium; Keynote for Celebrating Diversity in Business Awards Program; Panelist on Gender Diverse Boardrooms for the Thirty Percent Coalition; Colloquium on Global Diversity Discussion Leader; Keynote on Diversity for Greenwich Hospital; Keynote Speaker for the Women’s Leadership Council for the Bridgeport Regional Business Council; Luncheon Keynote for Women’s Empowerment Seminar for the Urban League of Southern Connecticut; Women’s Day keynote speaker for the historic Dixwell Avenue Church in New Haven; and the keynote speaker for the Bridgeport Rescue Mission’s “Hearts of Hope” event for an audience of approximately 800 over two evenings.

Mrs. Battles is very active in her community. She serves on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committees of the Stamford Center for the Arts and the Stamford Partnership. She is a member and Co-Chair of the Arthur W. Page Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and President of the Fairfield County (CT) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated. Mrs. Battles is a member of: The Chief Diversity Officers Board of i4cp; Public Relations Society of America; ColorComm; the Stamford-Norwalk Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc.; the Fairfield County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated; the Stanford University Alumni Association; and, the Stanford University National Black Alumni Association.

She is married to Curt Battles, Chief Advisor of New Canaan Advisors, who has a BA from Cornell University and an MBA from Northwestern University, and their daughter Kendall is a Junior at The King School (High School). The family attends the First Presbyterian Church of Stamford where both parents have served as Elders. (Updated December 2017)

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The PRSA Foundation is an independent, 501 (c) (3) charitable organization that is committed to promoting diversity among public relations professionals and companies so that they can best serve the public good and address the needs of a diverse world.